1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cushion shoe with various kinds of air chambers capable of absorbing the shocks generated by the application of the weight of a wearer in a vertical direction and distributing the absorbed shocks in a horizontal direction.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an air cushion shoe for indoor exercise with a group of air chambers that are protruded on the bottom surface of a sole of the shoe, having a single air chamber located on the heel portion of the shoe sole, the single air chamber partitioned into a first single air chamber and a second single air chamber, and having plural kinds of communicating air chambers located on the whole portion except the heel portion of the shoe sole, the plural kinds of communicating air chambers arranged in the order of large-sized ones, middle-sized ones, small-sized ones, and very smaller-sized ones from the back section to the front section thereof except the heel portion of the sole and communicating with one another in a radical direction, each communicating air chamber provided with a concave/convex part on the bottom surface thereof.
2. Background of the Related Art
Air cushion shoes are generally known comprising a substantially cylindrical tube or a closed air tube into which air or gas is filled that is put and fixed in the heel portion of the shoe so as to absorb the shocks generated by the application of the weight of a wearer in a vertical direction. The development of such the air cushion shoes is caused by the fact that when a human walks or runs, his or her heel portion first comes in contact with the ground. In addition thereto, recently, there have been introduced new shoes for giving finger-pressure like effect to the soles of feet.
Furthermore, there have been presented a shoe having an air chamber on the whole portion of the shoe sole so as to make a wearer feel comfortable and give improved stability and balance to the shoe, which is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 248539 entitled ‘Air cushion device for shoe’, as shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the conventional air cushion device is comprised of a plurality of air chambers in the interior of an air cushion plate on the sole having a flat bottom surface, an elastic intermediate plate placed on the air cushion plate, and a pressure buffering plate placed on the intermediate plate, having pressure buffering protrusions.
In this prior art, one air chamber's air resistance force against the portion where a wearer's weight is first applied is sent to another air chamber as soon as possible, such that the shock applied to the foot is distributed and absorbed. This enables the fatigue of the foot to be reduced and also enables the shock applied to the wearer's back to be minimized. However, the bottom surface of the sole is designed flat, so it may be often slippery.
Another example of the prior arts is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 159978 entitled ‘Air cushion shoe sole giving finger-pressure like effect’, as shown in FIG. 2. As illustrated, the sole comprises a plurality of air chambers in the interior of the sole having a flat surface, wherein the side air chambers are in communication with one another, but the front and back air chambers are not in communication with one another. In this prior art, one air chamber's air resistance force against the portion where a wearer's weight is first applied is sent to another side air chamber as soon as possible, but is not sent to any front or back one, which results in the failure of the smooth distribution of the shock applied to the foot. So, the reduction of the fatigue of the foot and the shock absorption for the back couldn't be achieved. Moreover, it may be slippery because the bottom of the sole is flat.
As another example of the prior arts, there is disclosed Japanese Patent laid-open Publication No. Hei 5-309001 entitled ‘A shoe sole’, which is illustrated in FIG. 3. In this case, the sole comprises a plurality of protrusions that are formed to maximize a force of friction, on the bottom surface thereof, so that the shoe is not slippery. However, since the air chambers are located in the interior of the sole of the shoe on the upper portion of the protrusions, such a conventional sole is somewhat problematic in minimizing its elastic rebounding force relative to the shock applied thereto.
As another example of the prior arts, there is disclosed in European Patent No. 301331 entitled ‘Air cushion shoe’, as shown in FIG. 4, which comprises a plurality of air chambers in the interior of the sole of the shoe. Therefore, such a conventional air cushion shoe is somewhat problematic in minimizing its elastic rebounding force relative to the shock applied to the sole thereof like air cushion shoe sole of the Korean Utility Model Registration No. 159978. This prior art still has the same disadvantages as the above-mentioned conventional practices.